Morrissey - Three new summer 2011 UK dates on sale Friday 13th May

Morrissey

Stephen Patrick Morrissey continues to entertain and bemuse in equal amounts. In 2009, the former Smiths frontman made headlines for leaving the stage mid-gig in Liverpool when he was hit on the head by a water bottle thrown by an over-enthusiastic punter. Anyone who's spent any time at live music venues will be amazed this doesn't happen more often, with devoted followers inexplicably hurling weighty debris at their idols.

The same tour was disrupted by a mysterious bout of ill-health - again, hardly Morrissey's fault - and, when they did come, the shows were something special. For an artist of Morrissey's calibre, much is forgiven in the name of music. The Smiths back catalogue is like few others and Morrissey's own material is, in parts, at least as strong as his former band's. Few performers can boast a post-band solo debut even half as strong as 1988's dazzling 'Viva Hate'.

Time spent in the US and hiatuses aside, 'Mozzer' has continued to produce the goods and divide opinion. And with more dates added to his current tour, the beguiling nature of the publicity merry-go-round is once again failing to seduce Morrissey.

A 'difficult' interview with Radio 2's diminutive Mr Nice Guy Dermot O'Leary and a censorship spat with the BBC over a Radio 4 interview during which Morrissey heavily criticised the Royal family ahead of the recent wedding (both in the last month) might normally be sufficient to turn punters off, but somehow it makes Morrissey even more appealing.

We laugh, push it to one side and put on Every Day's Like Sunday. XFM DJ Clint Boon - a Manchester contemporary of Morrissey - told Allgigs that Morrissey is a 'wonderfully bonkers poet whose words will be remembered and celebrated for eternity'. For many, that sums the man up.

A pen full of love, anger, kitchen-sink drama and the bleak fragility of existence, Morrissey remains something of a collectors' item. An auteur, an artist of great influence and something of a living legend - that last surely a label he resists.

After a summer of gigs and festival appearances (Glastonbury and Hop Farm), Morrissey has added three more dates and will be appearing at the Victoria Hall, Stoke on the 5th July the O2 Academy, Leeds, on 7th and Middlesbrough's Town Hall on 8th July.

Tickets for the new dates are on sale from Friday 13th May at 9AM, starting at £32.50. It goes without saying that demand will be very high.

UPDATE: New dates now sold out

Predictably, the three new dates were snapped-up on Friday morning in less than 15 minutes!